About Me

Somehow, two years have passed. And Dallin will be flying back to the states on March 26th. It has been quite the adventure! I will encourage him to add his own summary when he gets back...(Living the good life in the Philippines, Quezon City North Mission. Entered the MTC in Provo on April 4, 2012. Flew to the Philippines on Sunday, May 13, 2012. What a great adventure! And what an honor to serve the good people of the Pines!)

Monday, September 3, 2012

I'm fat, I'm fat, you know it, you know!

Woe is me! The doc gave his
diagnosis and the results are in. The baby isn't due til 2014!! I'll have to
live with this pooch for a long time!!! Bummer. Curse the day someone decided
rice should be the staple food of the Philippines.

On a happier note, hello one and all! It's been a wonderful week here in my
beloved Philippines! I'll hop right down to the good business.

Now, I know that no one wants a week by week update of my reading materials.
But this is the last, I swear! I finished Jesus The Christ this week and I
honestly can't tell you how good it is. My dad recommended it to me way forever
ago. But honestly, I got 15 pages in and was bored out of my mind! But it's all
about attitude. When a man gives you an 800 page church book that can't be read
without a Urim and Thummim, you get a bit put out. But I must say, it is one of
the very best books I've ever read! It gives you insights into the Savior's
life that you never could have imagined before! It is incredible and a huge
testimony booster! And once you get started, the pages will fly by. It's
wonderful. Read it. Ok, lets move on from Readers Digest to the real deal.

First cool story. This week Elder Doria and I got to do splits with some of my
buddies from the MTC. Elder Mackie and Elder Steltzer. It was soo awesome!! It
was great to see those boys again and even more fun to see how they've improved
since the MTC and since they've been here. And, haha, if I'm honest, it was
nice to see that my Tagalog has improved as of late. Not meaning that I felt
good to see them struggle where I no longer struggle but....ok, I lied. That's
EXACTLY what I meant. It was awesome! But they were total champs. Elder Mackie
worked with me and I was very pleased with how well he is doing. We taught
lessons like a boss. It was sweet!

So we had that FHE last Monday. I included pics. One is our dinner and one is
the kids of the fam. Hm, kids. Well, they are mostly older than me, so I don't
know what you call them. Anyway, they are active, except for the mom. We have
been teaching her. Our FHE and last few lessons have been knockouts!! She is
having great progress! It's awesome! Unfortunately, she didn't make it to
church, but no worries! Next week we'll have her for sure!! She's great!

We've had some good progress with a bunch of our less active families. We had 4
of them come to church this week, which is a good step up from zero. So that's
been exciting for us!

Another pic I included was for those that don't know. Before I came here, I've
heard of roaches, but I'd never seen them. I didn't picture them at all how
they really are. And we see tons. So, yesterday, I took a good pic to help
educate all those who are like me!! Enjoy!!

Random; there is a really huge cathedral in our zone that looks really cool. It
reminds me of our days in Europe. I really really want to go in and check it
out, but being a missionary, that's sort of bawal. But I still get the best
look inside I can every time we walk by. There is even a white nun there! Crazy
awesome!!

We heard Christmas music at the store as we bought groceries this week. I
thought only my momma was like that. But apparently not!! I think I like it
here!!

Yesterday, we had a miracle. We got invited to lunch at the mission home after
church. OOOOOOOHHHHH man!!!! It was incredible!! Super american!! It was this
amazing casserole with beans and fritos and cheese and sour cream. Seemed like
something the G-ma would make. And then there was real garlic bread. Also like
the G-ma. Plus real salad!! I was loving life!! That's real salad 2 weeks in a
row! Lucky lucky me!!

And of course, it's P-day once again. We played basketball with the other
elders from our zone. And we've being doing all of our P-day things with Elder
Broadhead and Elder Hathcock from our district. They are wonderful elders.
Anywho, that about sums up our week here. We have an upcoming zone conference
this week, which I am absolutely stoked for!!

Things here are constantly improving. The language is getting better and better
(don't be fooled, I'm still terrible. Seriously) which is sooo nice. Slight
communication beats no communication. The people are starting to open up to us
a little bit. As we are obedient and do our best to follow the Spirit, the Lord
truly blesses us in our work. We have a lot of lessons that after people
express their problems, I don't know what to teach. But a scripture will come
to mind and then the floodgates just open and we are able to help them through
their trials. It's so amazing!!

Anyway, I think that is it for me this week! I love you all and hope you have a
very exceedingly wonderful week!!